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| Masked Cardinal - Paroaria nigrogenis |
The fourth day of the trip was to be mainly a shopping day. The plan was to spend a few hours in the
capital, Port of Spain, visit the mall at Trincity in the afternoon, fit in a
few minutes of birding at the Trincity Sewage Treatment Plant which is just
across the road from the mall and then head off to the airport to check-in for
our 6:30pm flight to Tobago. Needless to
say things did not go as planned.
I got an early morning WhatsApp from Wendell saying he was
planning a visit to Waterloo for a few hours and since I missed it the day
before, he asked me if I wanted to go with him. Of course I jumped at the opportunity for more
birding. On hearing that I really wanted
to see the Large-billed Tern and the Masked Cardinal he was also going to take
me to see them. While on the same highway
which I was on just the day before on route to the Pitch Lake, he took the turn
into the Caroni Sanctuary but stopped before crossing the overpass. We then followed a mud road and we were
standing before a large lake. “Caroni
Lake” he announced.
Caroni Lake
 |
| Masked Yellowthroat - Geothlypis aequinoctialis |
I immediately noticed
six Large-billed Terns feeding a few
feet out. A few Common Waxbills were also feeding on the seeds of the grass in the
area. The surprise though, was when I saw two yellow birds I first thought to
be Yellow Warblers but was told that they were Masked Yellowthroats. It was
then that I saw the black masked like marking around its eyes. Wendell said this was the first time he saw
them there. Other highlights were a Ringed Kingfisher, a lifer, and a very
cooperative Anhinga which was sun
drying on the bank not too far from where I was standing. The forty minutes spent at Caroni Lake felt
longer but we had to move on.
Caroni Rice Fields
 |
| Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus |
Wendell decided to cancel Waterloo and took me in search of
some raptors in the Caroni Rice Fields. It
was a large area to bird with rice plants and fields at different stages of
production attracting various types of birds. The ever present Southern Lapwing was well accounted for along with Black-necked Stilts and there were Rock Pigeons everywhere. I was surprised by the size of the Limpkin and was happy to land another
raptor, the Long-winged Harrier. I also saw Yellow-hooded Black birds and Red-breasted
Meadowlarks. We spent two hours at
the Rice Fields and then started or journey back to town but after one more
stop.
Caroni Swamp
 |
| Masked Cardinal - Paroaria nigrogenis |
Yes! Back to Caroni Swamp with the hopes of seeing one of
the birds I was hoping to see the day before.
That bird was the Masked Cardinal
and we were not disappointed, we saw two birds around the entrance to the
swamp’s visitor’s center. My bonus was
the Black-crested Antshrike, a
lifer, and a poor to fair image of a Rufous-browed
Peppershrike. I then met my family
in Port of Spain just after 11:00am but because my shoes and socks were wet, I
returned to the Guest House for a shower and a change of clothing. On my way there I saw my first Pale-vented
Pigeon, for the trip.
Trincity Mall
 |
| Collared Plover - Charadrius collaris |
We finally reached Trincity after 2:00pm, I
erased all thoughts of going to the Trincity Sewage Treatment Plant, noticing that
there was no safe way to cross the four Lane Highway without a pedestrian
crossing. So I did some birding in the Mall’s car park adding a Collared Plover to my Year list. We left for the airport around 5:30pm and eventually
arrived in Tobago after some delays at 8:00pm headed to our guest house and to collect
our rental as we prepared for day 5 -
a
day of birding in Tobago.
New Species for the Day: 20
New Lifers for the Day: 09
Total Species for the Trip: 107
Total Lifers for the Trip: 76
Caroni Lake:
Common Waxbill, Masked Yellowthroat, Ringed Kingfisher, large-billed Tern, Common
Gallinule, Anhinga, Black-bellied whistling Duck,
Caroni Rice
Fields: Long-winged Harrier, Limpkin, Pale-breasted Spinetail (h), Purple
Gallinule, Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Least
sandpiper, Lesser Yellowleg, Rock Pigeon.
Incidental: Pale-vented
Pigeon
Here are some of the images from Day 4
 |
| Common Waxbill - Estrilda astrild |
 |
| Large-billed Tern - Phaetusa simplex |
 |
| Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga |
 |
| Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius @ Caroni
Lake |
 |
| Yellow-chinned Spinetail - Certhiaxis cinnamomeus@ Caroni
Lake |
 |
| Ringed Kingfisher - Megaceryle torquata |
 |
| Masked Yellowthroat - Geothlypis aequinoctialis |
 |
| Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinicus |
|
| Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus |
 |
| Yellow-hooded Blackbird - Chrysomus icterocephalus @ Caroni Rice Fields |
|
| Masked Cardinal - Paroaria nigrogenis |
|
| Collared Plover - Charadrius collaris |
 |
| Rufous-browed Peppershrike - Cyclarhis gujanensis @ Caroni Swamp |
